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ARLINGTON, Texas -- Mitch Moreland will be the guy at first base for Texas if Prince Fielders neck problem keeps him out for any length of time. DeAndre Hunter Hawks Jersey . His bat was a big boost a few hours after a players-only meeting for a slumping team trying to halt a slide down the AL West standings. Moreland hit a tiebreaking homer in the seventh inning, Alex Rios had a two-run triple and the Rangers avoided a three-game sweep with a 6-2 victory against the Toronto Blue Jays on Sunday. "Id like to see him do that more often, then he can get more playing time," manager Ron Washington said after Moreland doubled in his final at-bat. "Mitch is a big part and today he stepped up huge for us." Washington expects Fielder to play in the next game Tuesday night against Seattle after he had an injection designed to ease the pain and pressure of a disk problem in his neck that he says goes back to last season. If the outlook on Fielder changes, Moreland says his approach wont. "Weve had to deal with adversity all year," said Moreland, whose second homer of the season was a line drive just over the wall in right field off R.A. Dickey (4-4) to break a 2-all tie. "You come in every day ready to play." The Rangers, who snapped a four-game losing streak and stayed seven games behind Oakland in fourth place in the AL West, had gone 23 innings without an extra-base hit when Rios drove one off the right-centre wall in the fourth. Juan Francisco and Edwin Encarnacion homered for the Blue Jays, who had won a franchise-record six straight in Texas, including a four-game sweep in their only visit last year. "Great teams find a way to sweep series," Dickey said. "Were definitely going in the right direction, but theres more there that we need to do. Today was a game we probably should have won." The Rangers were in position to add to the lead Moreland gave them in the seventh when Toronto manager John Gibbons got the Blue Jays out of the jam with a challenge after three previous visits with umpires ended without a video review. Michael Choice lined out to Francisco, who tagged third base with his glove as Robinson Chirinos was diving back to the bag. Dale Scott called Chirinos safe, but a review lasting nearly 3 minutes overturned it and gave Toronto an inning-ending double play. Gibbons move ended up not mattering much when Shin-Soo Choo and Adrian Beltre had run-scoring hits in the eighth. Moreland hit his second homer of the season after Rios just beat Franciscos throw for an error on one of the plays Gibbons considered challenging. Toronto had a season-high four errors. Texas rookie right-hander Nick Martinez left with a 2-1 lead after five innings but lost the chance for his first big league win on Encarnacions ninth homer, a shot to left field off Aaron Poreda in the sixth. Poreda (2-0) ended up getting the win after a scoreless seventh, and closer Joakim Soria pitched a shaky but scoreless ninth in a non-save situation on his 30th birthday. Franciscos home run into the upper deck in right field was among four hits allowed by Martinez in a solid outing that should give him a chance to stay in the rotation with four Texas starters on the disabled list. He had never pitched above Double-A before this year. "Each time he takes the ball its an experience for him," Washington said. "He knew where we were today and he did a good job just getting us through as many pitches as he could handle." Dickey allowed three hits and four runs in falling to 12-12 against the team that drafted him and gave him his first shot in the majors 13 years ago. NOTES: Rangers 2B Rougned Odor was a late scratch with a sore right wrist. He was replaced in the No. 9 spot by Luis Sardinas. ... Sunday marked the first of nine day games in a stretch of 14 for the Rangers. That hasnt happened since 1984. ... Julio Franco, who spent five of his 23 seasons in Texas and was 49 when he played his final game in 2007, threw out the ceremonial first pitch. Evan Turner Jersey . However, it wasnt a problem on Monday night. Evgeni Nabokov made 23 saves for his 56th career shutout in the New York Islanders 3-0 win over the Detroit Red Wings on Monday night. Chandler Parsons Hawks Jersey . Ibrahimovic put PSG ahead when he got in front of his marker to neatly flick in Lucass cross in the 59th minute. New signing Yohan Cabaye came on as a second-half substitute and headed Ezequiel Lavezzis cross against the post in the 87th. Moments later, Lucas set up another goal from the right when fellow countryman Alex turned in his corner with a strikers finish. https://www.thehawkslockerroom.com/Deandre-Bembry-City-Edition-Jersey/ .com) - Damian Lillard poured in 40 points on 11-of-21 shooting to go along with 11 assists, and the Portland Trail Blazers stunned the Oklahoma City Thunder, 115-111, in overtime on Tuesday.Theres a reason there hasnt been a meaningful work stoppage in pro football for almost 27 years, and its not because this is a sport where the players have nothing to complain about. The very nature of the sport makes it difficult - some might say near impossible - to keep players united during a work stoppage because work stoppages are always about making sacrifices in the short term to benefit in the long. And for a great number of players in a sport with short careers and non-guaranteed contracts, there is no long term. But perhaps even more difficult to overcome is the fact that in football a small number of players on every team are paid far more than the rest, especially the large number of players on every team who will earn at or near the league minimum. And it is those star players, who already enjoy the biggest paydays and the most job security, wholl gain the most as the result of a successful work action. Look at any roster in either the CFL or NFL and youll probably be surprised to earn how many players are earning at or near the league minimum, which this NFL season will ranges between $420,000 and $645,00 for players from zero to three years of service in the league. In the CFL, that figure will go from $45,000 to $50,000 for this season based on what the parties have agreed to so far during current CBA negotiations. Since payrolls for CFL teams arent public, lets use an NFL team as an example to illustrate the payroll dynamics in pro football, which are similar in both leagues, albeit on a different scale. Green Bay Packers quarterback Aaron Rodgers enters this season with an average salary of $22 million, nearly double that of anyone else on the team. Among Packers currently under contract, there are only four with an average salary of more than $7 million season, and another four at more than $4 million. There are eight players listed at between $2 million and $4 million, and 67 whose average salary is less than $1 million, 49 of whom are due to earn less than $600,000. The numbers in the CFL are obviously smaller but the manner in which they compare to one another is similar, with star quarterbacks earning roughly $500,000 per season while a large portion of each roster earns less than $60,000 per season. The truth is that whatever gains are made for the players in either league usually mean the rich will get richer. For example, the NFL will operate this season with a salary cap of $133 million dollars. But if that figure was suddenly increased to $200 million, the primary beneficiaries would be the Peyton Mannings, Aaron Rodgers, Tom Bradys and Richard Shermans of the world, while the leaggues rank and file would essentially remain un affected. Chandler Parsons jersey. Same thing in the Canadian Football League - where if the CFLPA were to get its wish and have the salary cap jump immediately from $4.4 million to $5.8, the benefits would go to players such Ricky Ray, Darian Durant and the rest of the players whom fans pay to see. Of course theres another dynamic in the CFL game that doesnt exist south of the border. And thats that starting Canadian players - the ones mandated by the leagues quota system - also stand to benefit handsomely from any increase because of the laws of supply and demand. But the question becomes how do you convince the great number of players earning at or near the league minimum - young American players or backup Canadians - to commit to a work stoppage when theres little or no chance many of them will benefit from it? Standing up for a much higher minimum salary might help boost support among the rank and file, but that never seems to be the priority in either league. And therein lies the challenge of trying to keep a union full of professional football players all on the same page during a negotiating process. Consider that, despite having the leverage of being able to shut down the most profitable sport in North America, NFL players werent much interested in testing the resolve of their membership by missing paycheques when the league locked out its players during the off-season three years ago. They settled before that could happen. In Canada, the CFLPA has made a lot of noise about being disappointed in the leagues various offers this spring. But it hasnt said anything about having all of its membership on side, or being unbreakable, or being willing to miss game cheques in order to reach their goals in negotiation. The truth is that if the CFLPA were to strike a portion of the season, a great number of players will never get that money back - even if the owners were to capitulate completely. Many would simply be out of the league before they could benefit or would be left to watch the windfalls go to star players while they continue to earn similar amounts. All of these dynamics play to the owners advantage. And in the CFL, where were talking about players needing money to simply pay for the cost of living, the advantage is even greater. Will we see a CFL players strike later this month? Perhaps while its just training camp being missed, when no one has to make a true financial sacrifice to benefit the group for the long term. But in a sport where the rewards of such an action are likely to wind up in the hands of a select few, expecting anything more may be asking too much. ' ' '